E-media Disposal

In order to comply with Purdue’s policy, IPFW’s staff, faculty and students who have media that contain sensitive or restricted university data must place them in an approved collection bin for destruction. If you have hard drives or more removable media than what would fit in a paper box, you should contact the Help Desk (260-481-6030; helpdesk@ipfw.edu) prior to your visit, to make special arrangements.

Electronic media needs to be disposed of in accordance with the Purdue University's Data Handling Requirements. Electronic media (such as hard drives, CD’s, DVD’s, flash drives, etc.) with university data that will not be reused at the university must be physically destroyed. This means that not only must the data be destroyed beyond any ability to recover that data, but the physical media device must also be destroyed.

If you are unsure whether a memory device contained university-classified sensitive or restricted data, the best course of action is to assume that the device contained university data and dispose of the device properly. If the media will be reused at the university, it does not need to be destroyed.

The media placed in collection bins will be regularly taken to West Lafayette for proper destruction and recycling using Purdue's "Recycling for the Future" program. This program offers a reliable process for the disposal of electronic storage media containing university data. These media are shredded with a high-powered shredder and the byproducts are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner by contractors that handle e-waste.